Fun in the Atrium
by Charon the Sabercat
Summary: Krystal likes fish, so Fox decides to get some fish for the Great Fox's atrium. Goofyness insues with stuffy pandas and an ocelot named Bruce. This'll be fun!


Fun in the Atrium  
  
Krystal has fun doing nothing, and Fox joins her.  
  
Fox stepped into the Atrium, the ultimate place to relax on the Great Fox. It was basically nothing but a bridge going over a fake waterfall with a few trees planted into the floor, but it was as close to Terra Firma as you could get on a space cruiser. The bridge hung about a few dozen feet above the waterfall, which formed into a little lake before being repumped back up to the rest of the ship. He tiptoed onto the energy bridge; it was late at night, and he didn't want to wake up anyone.  
  
Unfortunately (or maybe not), someone was already awake.  
  
It was Krystal, who had made her home on the Great Fox for the time being. She wore not her skimpy rags from Dinosaur planet, but an oversized nightshirt that Slippy had lent her. She leaned curiously over the bridge's guardrail, watching the water churn below. She laughed and giggled as a leaf got swept away by the water's current. Fox sighed and joined her at her side. He also wore a nightshirt, which he put on just for temperature's sake; it was dang cold.  
  
"Hey, Krystal," Fox mumbled, resting his chin on his arms.  
  
"Hey, Fox" Krystal copied. She was learning English little by little, but couldn't speak anything too complicated. It was kind of funny how she said "Fox"; she never quite got the short "o" sound right, at least not when she said Fox's name.  
  
Fox took a quick look at Krystal's tail, which had bopped his leg. It was still bound in two places.  
  
"You still wrap your tail up like that?" Fox was amazed. Her grabbed Krystal's tail in her hand. It was a little strange how the Fox-tail system worked; touch tails with oneanother, and its an extremely powerful surge of emotion. Simply grab one's tail with your hand, and it's nothing. "Doesn't that- I dunno, cut off the blood supply or something?"  
  
"What?" Krystal was confused by Fox's use of too many words used too quickly.  
  
"Just let me take those things off." Fox went to pull off Krystal's tail bindings, but she swiftly snapped his hand away.  
  
"NO!" she shrieked like a child.  
  
"Why not?" Fox was genuinely confused. Krystal responded by grabbing his tail and roughly jamming the fur upwards, rubbing him against the grain. It was a disgusting, almost painful feeling, and he immediately felt like he was going to puke. He held his muzzle shut, and tried with his free hand to smooth out the fur. Krystal shifted her weight to one leg.  
  
"Joo?"  
  
"Okay! Okay! You can keep the scrunchy things!" Fox gasped for breath as he slowly regained his compusure. He leaned heavily on the guardrail to rest, and Krystal joined him, keeping her weight on her paws.  
  
Thirty minutes of silence passed before Fox let loose another sigh. "Pitiful excuse for a Atrium, isn't it?" he moaned, swiping his tail.  
  
"Ak dootj jemo vajx."  
  
"What?"  
  
Krystal looked at Fox. "Vajx! Vajx! Oei bden! Vajx? Kxoo jnam uheidt idtoh kxo nukoh?" Krystal started moving her hand sideways in a wave motion. Fox had a sudden brainstorm.  
  
"Fish?" Fox looked down into the water. "Are there fish down there? When'd Peppy put in fish?"  
  
"No!" Krystal snapped her fingers like crazy (this was a thing she'd picked up from Peppy, who snapped the rythmn of a song whenever he was trying to remember the words to it), "No, knee, needs! Needs fish!"  
  
"Oh, it needs fish," Fox kept staring over the reflective water. He could see himself in it. "Yeah, fish would be neat. Save us some money on food."  
  
"Fish," Krystal giggled, leaning over so that she could see her reflection. "Fish, fish, fish. Oo, ceeb! Ak'j mo!"  
  
"Yeah!" Fox humored her, not knowing what she was saying. "Yeah, ak'j mojo, or whatever."  
  
Krystal laughed again. Everything on the Great Fox seemed to amaze her, and she had a sense of wonder like a toddler. At times, it was annoying, but now it was cute. Krystal began repeating the word "fish", liking the way it sounded. Fox got a quick idea, and stood up straight.  
  
"Okay, Krystal, get to bed."  
  
"Why?" she asked, wiggling her ears.  
  
"We're going on some errands tomorrow. Now, go to bed!" Fox pushed her towards her room. "Go!"  
  
"Okay," she shrugged her shoulders and trotted off.  
  
***  
  
"Peppy, me and Krystal've got some errands to run!" Fox yelled into the lounge. "Where's ROB?"  
  
"In the docking bay!" came Peppy's wheezy voice. A cough followed the statement.  
  
Fox looked through the door, Krystal following, looking worried. "You okay, Peppy?"  
  
"Little throat trouble," Peppy coughed. "I'll be okay. Could ya pick me up a Slurpy down on the planet?"  
  
"I dunno if they have Slurpies on Corneria anymore," Fox wondered aloud. "I'll see what I can find. Bye, Peppy!"  
  
"Behave, now!" Peppy laughed.  
  
"We will!"  
  
"Ba, ba, Peppy!"  
  
Peppy recognized the stilted goodbye. "Bye, Krystal!"  
  
***  
  
"ROB, where the passenger seat?" Fox called to the robot.  
  
"Passenger seat?" ROB slowly worded the phrase.  
  
"Yess, the passenger seat." Fox stared violently at ROB. "The seat that we stuff into the back of the Arwing if there's another passenger."  
  
"Oh! That passenger seat!" Rob twiddled his 'fingers'. "Well, we were running into some budget problems, and-"  
  
"You sold the passenger seat?"  
  
"Yes."  
  
Fox rubbed his temples as Rob made his tired excuses.  
  
"But! But, I did buy another one!"  
  
***  
  
"Krystal, just as a quick note, what do we want to do when we get back to the ship?"  
  
Krystal grimaced from her terribly uncomfortable bucket seat. "Kill the robot!"  
  
"Very good," Fox grinned in the front seat. "You know, I think we could make some good friends, you and I."  
  
"That was 'Once In a Lifetime' by the Talking Heads! This is your host, Fox Zeigel, with the all 80's weekend!"  
  
"That guy stole my name!" Fox joked. Krystal giggled.  
  
"... and here with that German classic, it's Nena with '99 Luftballoons'!"  
  
"Oh no!" Fox drooped in his seat. "This is gonna be a long trip..."  
  
***  
  
"Why is that girl wearing those horrible clothes?!" the aged Panda woman sassed, adjusting her glasses.  
  
"Just came back from a costume party," Fox held onto Krystal's tail to keep her from running away. "She forgot her clothes, and thought she might as well get something new- No, Krystal, you can't play with the baby, now get back here!"  
  
YANK!  
  
"OW!"  
  
"Thank you!"  
  
"She doesn't seem very well mannered, now, does she?" Mrs. Panda pulled the wrinkles out of her Shop-O-Mart vest.  
  
"Look, she's not from here," Fox hissed through clenched teeth. "She doesn't speak Cornerian. We need something that makes her look a little less like some tribal Indian- Krystal!"  
  
Krystal was getting a Veronica doll off of a tall shelf for a little Gecko girl... by climbing up the shelves themselves. Fox pulled Krystal back to the floor.  
  
"What are you doing?" Fox growled.  
  
"Kxuk wahc dootot u tecc!" Krystal argued, holding up the Veronica doll, which Fox snatched out of her hand.  
  
"That's nice, Krystal. But next time, you just ask an employee, okay?" Fox handed the girl her Veronica doll. "Here you go, kid. Now, let's get you some decent clothes, Krystal."  
  
***  
  
"This is an excellent choice for a business woman on the go," Mrs. Panda commentated as Krystal stepped out of the dressing room. She wore a gray business suit with gold buttons. A long skirt wrapped around Krystal's legs all the way down to her ankles. "Smart and comfortable, as well as affordable."  
  
Krystal went to take a step and promptly fell over.  
  
Fox sat in an uncomfortable store chair watching the pathetic attempts to match Krystal with some decent clothes. "Krystal's not really a 'business woman on the go'. She's more of a... 'sports woman on the go', or something."  
  
***  
  
"Flair bottom blue jeans and tank tops (as much as I hate to admit it) are in fashion lately. I think." Mrs. Panda scratched her head. "Your friend should like this."  
  
Krystal had on an annoyed face as she wore the red tank top and flair jeans. She scratched her legs furiously.  
  
"She doesn't like anything covering her legs," Fox remembered, now sitting upside-down in the chair, with his head resting on the floor. "Makes her fur itch."  
  
"Okay..." Mrs. Panda snarled.  
  
***  
  
"Very simple combination. Button up shirt with a skort. Seems perfect for such a simple woman."  
  
Fox growled, taking the comment as an insult. He had switched to sitting in the chair sideway, so he could get a better look a Krystal. She seemed to like the skort, but she kept scratching the buttons.  
  
"Could we just get her a T-shirt, or something?" Fox asked.  
  
"Fine!" Mrs. Panda nearly screamed, stomping off to find a T-shirt Krystal's size. "You want someone with good taste, you need to find someone my age..."  
  
***  
  
"I hope you like your new wardrobe, Krystal," Fox grumbled as they left the Shop-O-Mart. "That set us back a cold $20.00, you know."  
  
Krystal jogged back to the taxi, enjoying the feel of the white cotton T- shirt against her fur. "A celo ak!" She turned a cartwheel and faced Fox. "Thank oei!"  
  
"Yeah, yeah," Fox blushed, shoving Krystal into the taxi. "Let's go. We've got one more stop."  
  
***  
  
"What's with your friend there?" the pet shop owner Ocelot laughed as Krystal worked to get her tail out of Fox's grip.  
  
"She... was rocked a little too close to the wall when she was a kit. She's not quite right. Krystal, look! Fish!"  
  
"Fish?!" Krystal bolted to the fish tanks to watch the Neon Tetras. "Ooo...."  
  
Fox sighed and turned to the ocelot. "Look, I don't wanna be here very long. I want some goldfish."  
  
"Okay, they're uh... right over there, man," Ocelot pointed to a small tank in the middle of the room.  
  
"No, that's not what I- Ugh." Fox held his hands about a foot apart. "I want a goldfish that'll grow to about this big. You know, the kind you find outside of the Oriental food places."  
  
"Oh, those!" the ocelot grinned. "What, you uh... gettin' 'em for your girlfriend there?"  
  
"She's not my girlfriend," Fox growled, not looking at the idiot pet shop owner. "She's some cousin... or something. I have a really big family, and I don't know! Could you just give me the goldfish?"  
  
"Uh... I like... don't think I can just give 'em to ya, man. That's like... uh... illegal."  
  
Fox's fist tightened. "Look, look, um... what's your name?"  
  
"Bruce!" he happily announced.  
  
"Bruce, right. Look, Bruce, I came all the way down here to this stupid little downtown pet shop so I wouldn't have to spend $50.00 buying a Shop-O- Mart fish that'd probably die before I got it home. In fact, I don't know why I came to this place anyway. That'd probably happen if I bought a fish here, too. I'm going back to Shop-O-Mart. Come on, Krystal!"  
  
"Wait, man!" Bruce held Fox's arm. "I'll sell 'em to ya! Just don't tell my uncle, okay? The shop's supossed to be closed!"  
  
"That's how I like it," Fox smiled. "I want three of 'em." He reached into his wallet and slammed down a handful of dollar bills and a single scarab.  
  
"What's that?" Bruce asked. Fox stuffed the scarab into his pocket.  
  
"Nothing."  
  
"Okay, the fish are $4.00 each, and you've got.... you're $2.00 short, man."  
  
"I am?" Fox sifted through the bills; two fivers and one ten. "That's weird, I thought I had a $2.00 bill in there."  
  
"$2.00 bill? Those are bad luck, man!" Bruce crossed his fingers. "Bad mojo!"  
  
"Feh," Fox threw down two ones and picked up the fish. "Come on, Krysta- KRYSTAL, DON'T EAT THE GUNIEA PIGS!"  
  
***  
  
"How do ya like your new fish, Krystal?" Fox asked, looking around to check on her. She held the box with the three giant goldfish in her lap, grinning like she was holding a sack of gemstones and gold.  
  
"Thank oei, Fox! Thank oei!"  
  
"No problem, Krystal," Fox gloated. He leaned back. "I Rule-"  
  
Fox suddenly slammed on the breaks.  
  
"OH, CRUD! I WAS SUPPOSED TO GET PEPPY A SLUSHY!" He pounded on the steering wheel and rammed his head against the windshield. "Fox, you MORON! How could you forget?"  
  
"Fox?"  
  
"What?!" Fox snapped around quickly, ready to bite of Krystal's head, but something cold hit his nose.  
  
It was a Slushy cup. Filled with cherry Slushy.  
  
"A Slushy?" Fox pulled the cup out of Krystal's hand. "No way! How did you- "  
  
Krystal dropped a few pennies into the ash tray.  
  
"You took my $2.00 bill and got the Slushy, didn't you?" Fox laughed as Krystal beamed. "Krystal, you sneaky vixxen, you're a lifesaver!"  
  
"Thank oei..."  
  
Fox regained his composure and flew back to the Great Fox.  
  
***  
  
Krystal laughed as the fish jumped out of the water. The Atrium was nice and quiet and empty. She pulled on the sleeves of her T-shirt, releaving her of the awful tag-itchies. She heard footsteps approach her. It was Fox. He walked with his weight on the balls of his feet; you could hear his claws click against the metal floors. He sat down beside her, dangling his legs over the edge as she was doing.  
  
"Thanks again... for the Slushy thing..." Fox was unrehearsed and terribly bad at thank yous. "It... um... it really helped."  
  
Krystal petted Fox's muzzle without looking up from the water. "Oei'ho awdehudk. Ak'j uchawxk." (You're ignorant. It's alright.)  
  
"Did you just say I'm ignorant?" Fox snapped into a tense state, his ears pricked.  
  
Krystal gasped, surprised that Fox understood her. "Slippy vapot kxo khudjcukeh!" (Slippy fixed the translator!)  
  
"You bet he did," Fox sneered evilly, standing up so that he towered over Krystal. "And you're going to pay for calling me ignorAA!"  
  
With one quick movement, Krystal had taken her staff and smacked Fox into the water. She laughed as he coughed and sputtered, finally breaking the waters surface.  
  
"You come down here and fight like a-" Fox struggled for a word. "DANG IT!"  
  
"Jkifat awdehudk vep sud'k vadajx xaj jodkodsoj!" (Stupid, ignorant fox can't finish his sentences!) Krystal shrieked.  
  
"I dare you to come down here and say that yourself!" Fox stood up in the chin-deep water. And Krystal did just that. She splashed him and began shouting insults that didn't make sense at Fox.  
  
"Stupid rohho eater! You can't even jfcujx mo rusb, you son of a xudtruw!"  
  
"Oh great!" Fox thought. "The translator's malfunctioning!"  
  
Krystal laughed and pushed him underwater, only to be squirted in the face by Fox and his water-filled mouth. He lept back above the water.  
  
"Look at me, I'm a whale!" Fox filled his cheek and sprayed Krystal again, who splashed him. They shared a laugh before-  
  
"GERONIMO!" Slippy jumped off of the bridge, landing in between Fox and Krystal, splashing them both. He held up a green and orange water gun. "You're playing in the water and you didn't bring Super Soakers?" He then squirted Fox square in the face, followed by Krystal.  
  
"SLIPPY, you're DEAD!" Fox grabbed the toad in a headlock and threw the Super Soaker to Krystal. "Get 'em, Krystal!"  
  
"BOMBS A-WAY!" Peppy belly flopped down into the water, his ears going in twelve differnt directions.  
  
"Peppy?" Fox laughed.  
  
Peppy held up the Slushy cup. "SU-GAR RUUUUUSH!" He dumped the contents of the cup (water mixed with melted Slushy syrup) on Krystal's head. "LET'S GET IN OOOOOOON!"  
  
And they played in the water until Slippy nearly drowned, when they all went to bed.  
  
DONE! 


End file.
